“Lifes most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” Martin Luther King Jr.
“I will never forget Tracy rushing into the clinic with a tiny baby in her arms, and as she passed her to me she said “She weighs 5 kgs and she’s 15 months old!” We had been running clinics all morning, so busy we barely had time to reflect on the number of hungry children we were seeing. But Tracy had been measuring and weighing children all morning, aware of the overall malnutrition.”My God” she cried,”the children are all below the 3rd percentile!” We were overwhelmed. Mothers with their babies pressed to their breasts, trying to offering them milk, but because the mothers were so malnourished there was little milk. Children who were seen and quickly drank the rehydration fluid and wolfed down the food we offered; they were starving -literally. At the end of the day in clinic we gazed over the large fields of corn crops bleached and dry in the scorching sun. There had been little rain and they were now facing a drought and the shallow rooted corn crop, which is their main staple, would not be harvested. Without warning I felt tears falling down my cheeks. These people- these wonderful, caring, ordinary people were going to die. They had done nothing wrong, they struggled to provide the best they could for their children – encouraged them to go to school, to work hard, to care about each other – these innocent people were facing extreme hunger, and possible death. What could we do?
That evening we had an emergency meeting of Kenyan and Canadian team members who wanted to focus on nutrition. A plan was begun. We would offer a breakfast program to compliment the school lunch program, and have Francis, our agricultural specialist begin planting crops in the nearby field that MCOH owned. This was a beginning, a way to stave off severe malnourishment. We would include the parents in the care of the crops, helping them learn better farming skills, and offer a hand up. Our goal would be to have the feeding program become independent and hopefully they might even have enough to sell.
Back in Canada now our trip sometimes feels so distant, but I will never forget the feeling of picking up dear little Mary from Tracy, so innocent, so helpless, and so in need.”
The above reflections was offered by Kathy Mutch RN. Kathy acted as our triage nurse and director of the medical clinics. The vision, dental, and medical teams never knew what to expect from a severely mal nourished child to a young teen with burns scars (which healed without any medical attention) so badly he couldn’t turn his head, to a small girl with a large open wound all festered and weeping. Kathy’s role was not on easy one.
Can you imagine being faced with all that misery and not having the resources to help? Can you imagine having no drugs, bandages or ointment’s with which to work? We owe that blessing to our generous donors and fundraising volunteers, who provide the funds which provide the resources. There is no means of expression sufficiently adequate to express our sincere gratitude. If Kathy’s introduction doesn’t demonstrate the profound difference you are helping to make in the lives of the far less fortunate, then I don’t know what would.
Refugee Camp Experience
By accident, we happened upon a group of children in a park in Nakuru, being taught under a big tree. When questioned by Kathy and Tracy, about the situation, it was learned that they were internally displaced refugees (I DP’s). On the other side of the row of trees were 400 refugees living on the side of the road outside the park. They were sleeping on the clay, with only the bare necessities of life. They didn’t even have tents. Once again, because of your generosity, we quickly decided that they needed our help. A few hours later the whole team returned with trucks loaded with blankets, cooking oil, water tanks, rolls of black plastic and rope for them to make shelters, sanitary napkins, soap, tooth brushes, and some soccer balls and inexpensive toys.
One very old lady, all bent over from years of back breaking work, tears of thankfulness running down her face, started the group in singing and dancing to thank us. This was our second day in Kenya. What a way to start our mission work. We left knowing that we only made a tiny difference in their material world, but a much bigger deference in their level of hope. Thank God for the generosity of our volunteers and donors which afforded us the option of being able to help them.
Special Orphanage Project
You will remember the special appeal for funds last December, after we heard about the conditions in an orphanage in GilGil. This was the situation where the 83 children of all ages were sleeping on wooden bunks without mattresses, sheets or even blankets. Your great generosity allowed us to visit the orphanage with a truck load of mattresses, sheets, and blankets, plus we left enough funds, with trusted leaders, to buy shoes, and school books for them. We were so priviledged to spend 3 or 4 hours at the orphanage. We sang and danced with them, shared stories, learned about their struggles, and came to know John and his wife, who give up everything they owned to start the orphanage.
Some of the kids badly needed medical attention by the med team, as well as fitting two of the leaders with glasses. Cheri Butt, put on her clown outfit and amazed the kids with balloons shaped into animals. A new experience for these kids and for us. We left some money for two of the younger boys to have operations at the hospital, in the days after we departed.
Once again, words do not express the difference your generosity has made in these beautiful children lives. Thank you so much for your wonderful generosity. I know we will be back to see them next year. We were so thankful for the response we got last Dec for the special fundraiser.
Click here to read more team reflections on the 2009 mission.